Connecticut officials on Wednesday hailed what they call a substantial rebound in school attendance tied to a five-year effort that began amid the pandemic. State leaders reported that the percentage of students identified as chronically absent fell from 23.7% in the 2021-2022 school year to 16.4% in the most recent year, a decline they say represents roughly 35,000 fewer chronically absent students.
From emergency response to ongoing strategy
The initiative, known as the Learner Engagement and Attendance Program (LEAP), began in 2021 with support from federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars. It was created as a targeted response to rising absenteeism during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many districts saw attendance plunge.
LEAP operates through partnerships among the state, Regional Education Service Centers and local community organizations. At its core are trained home visitors who work in pairs and meet directly with families whose children are at risk of chronic absenteeism. Over several months the home visitors build relationships, identify barriers and connect families to resources intended to get students back into the classroom.
“This is a program that I think is working,” Gov. Ned Lamont said at a recent gathering of educators, LEAP staff and state officials.
Barriers addressed by home visitors
Home visitors detailed the range of obstacles that can prevent regular school attendance, many of which are not strictly academic. As LEAP home visitor Cecelia Garay described, the reasons families miss school can include:
- transportation problems;
- health and illness;
- housing instability;
- language barriers;
- parents working multiple jobs or irregular hours.
“Some of the barriers will be transportation. Illness. They lost permanent housing and they don’t want to say it. … The language barrier. We have families that, they work — a single mom working two jobs,” Garay said.
Attendance advocates say the program shifts the response to absenteeism away from punishment and toward relationship building and prevention. Hedy Chang, CEO of Attendance Works, which has collaborated with Connecticut on LEAP, framed the approach as a change in mindset.
“This is about a change in mindset. It’s moving from blame to engagement and prevention,” Chang said.
Scale and results
State education officials provided the absenteeism figures as part of a five-year retrospective on LEAP. The numbers show a notable drop from the pandemic-era high in 2021-22, though officials acknowledge the current rate remains above pre-pandemic levels.
| School Year | Chronic Absenteeism Rate |
|---|---|
| 2021-2022 | 23.7% |
| Most recent year | 16.4% |
Officials say the decrease equates to roughly 35,000 fewer students classified as chronically absent — a term typically applied to students missing a significant portion of the school year. State education staff emphasized that while the improvement is meaningful, continued work is necessary to restore attendance to pre-pandemic levels.
What families and districts can expect
LEAP’s model centers on personalized outreach. Home visitors work with families to connect them to practical supports, such as transportation options or health services, and with schools to coordinate plans for reengaging students. The program’s reliance on home visits and community ties reflects a broader trend in education policy toward addressing out-of-school factors that affect learning.
State officials and partner organizations are using the five-year review to consider long-term plans for sustaining LEAP’s services as federal pandemic-era funding sunsets. That conversation will involve weighing the program’s demonstrated benefits against the cost and logistics of maintaining a home-visiting workforce statewide.
Looking ahead
Connecticut’s experience may offer lessons for other states grappling with elevated absenteeism. Supporters of LEAP point to the program’s collaborative structure and its focus on relationship-based interventions as key to its results. Critics, if any, have not been widely quoted in the state’s public summaries, and state leaders have presented the attendance gains as justification for exploring sustained investment.
As districts prepare for the next school year, education officials say LEAP will remain a central element in the state’s strategy to help students attend regularly and succeed academically.
